Children consider gambling ads a 'normal' part of sport, study by Deakin University researchers find
Children consider gambling ads a ‘normal’ part of sport, study by Deakin University researchers find
ABC
Tom Nightingale
Watching gambling ads is becoming a normal part of watching football for Australian children, a study has found.
Deakin University researchers said children as young as eight are recalling brand names and even promotional offers.
“Children are very easily able to tell you that if you bet on a certain outcome of a game, if your team kicks the first goal but then go on to lose, that they now expect to get money back on those offers,” study co-author Associate Professor Samantha Thomas said.
“What that does is it suggests to kids that you can’t lose from gambling.”
The academic paper found that last year, the gambling industry spent $145 million on promotion, making it the fourth biggest spender in Australian advertising.